Julia's Dilemma
by Tipper
Summary: Sneaky Pete (Amazon) Fic: Julia knows that Marius isn't Pete, and yet he still shows up, saving her when Luis comes looking for payback over Valerie. He wasn't her cousin. He was a stranger. Why would a stranger risk his life for hers? Why did he even care?
1. Chapter 1

JULIA'S DILEMMA

A Sneaky Pete fanfic

By Tipper

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to these characters, their stories, or the setting. This is a purely for fun.

Status: Complete in four chapters.

Characters: Julia and Marius POVs, but all the family play a part except Carly (sorry Carly)

A/N: If you know my stories here and at Ao3, you know that I totally have a thing for ersatz families and beautifully acted and clever tv shows, however implausible. That, and I knew that Marius was someone worth caring about by how he reacted to what happened with Eddie's poor toe. So, this story is guilty pleasure to provide a little h/c for Marius.

Description: Julia knows that Marius isn't Pete, and yet he still shows up, saving her when Luis comes looking for payback over Valerie. He wasn't her cousin. He was a stranger. Why would a stranger risk his life for hers? Why did he even care?

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CHAPTER ONE: THE CONFRONTATION

Julia drove home from the City in a bit of a daze, sensing more than seeing the cars that flowed by on 95. Black, white, silver and the occasional flash of red – she just avoided them as they blurred into the darkening gloom.

It had been sunny when she'd met Bagwell, but, as if to match her mood, the sky was now a mask of heavy, dark clouds, on the edge of raining, but with pockets of brightness. What did they call it? Changeable?

She'd hoped for something to allay her worries about Pete, something to provide an explanation for the questions she'd had about him and Aunt Maggie. Why did Pete have two names? Why did the state know him as Marius instead of Pete? Had he changed his name legally? If so, why? And why had the other man named Marius seemed familiar, and why had Maggie left with him instead of Pete? Why…why…why…?

The answer to the main question, as it turned out, was simple. It was also horrible, incredible, terrible and painful.

The man she knew wasn't Pete.

He was Marius.

Pete, her actual cousin, was the man that had left with Aunt Maggie. Bagwell had shown her pictures of the two of them.

But she didn't know the answer to the other questions: why was Marius pretending to be Pete? And why did Aunt Maggie go along with it? Why did Pete?

Bagwell had been nice to her, answering her questions, but she could see the questions in his eyes, especially as her composure had started to slip once she knew the truth. If she were Marius' ex, why wouldn't she know his name? Not long into the conversation, he'd started grilling her, asking her about their relationship, how it had started, what he was like. She had expected that, and hadn't wanted to get Pete in trouble, but her prepared answers had broken down once she understood that Marius had manipulated her, conned her, played on the whole family's affections for the Pete they'd loved as a child. Finally, she'd apologized to Bagwell, said she'd had to get back to her children, to her family, and had abruptly left him in a cloud of confusion. She'd felt his suspicious gaze on her as she practically ran out of that park. And, yes, she felt a bit guilty about having stirred something up with Bagwell, but not enough – because by then she was just too angry with Marius to care.

As she drove the hour and a half back home, though, the cars swirling around her as dangerous and swift as her thoughts, the anger had dissipated. Pete had helped the family get the money back that Audrey had trusted to Lance, and exposed him for the snake he was. He'd brought the money back after stealing it to use in New York, even though he easily could have left with it. He'd helped her get Dockery's money back after the backpack debacle. He'd yelled at her to not open the door when she and Valerie had been trapped in the storage facility, even when his own life was at stake. Why had he done any of that? So she was back to bewilderment. She knew she might be angry again soon, but for now, she just felt adrift.

A car blasted her with a long honk, and she startled slightly, realizing that her speed had dropped below 40. She pressed her foot down, her gaze refocusing on the road ahead.

It was no good ruminating. She needed answers. Before she told her family, she needed to understand.

Pete had said he'd wanted to explain. It had better be a good one.

She swung off the highway at the Bridgeport exit, heading away from the water and towards home. She'd check in on the kids, whom Carly was watching, then call Pete and suggest he meet her at the bar on the water. Her eyes narrowed as she realized Carly was going to ask questions when she'd beg for a few more hours of babysitting, want to know what was going on. She needed something to tell her….

She settled on a convenient lie in her head as she pulled up in front of her house, working over the words to say as she exited and locked the car. She just needed to say that Maggie has asked her to speak with Pete's pro—

"Hey, Little Blondie."

Julia came to an abrupt halt, her head popping up in surprise.

"Shit," she muttered as Luis stepped out the car she hadn't even noticed as she'd parked behind. She really should have noticed a vehicle that black and ugly on the street. People in this neighborhood drove Corollas, not Lincolns. Luis stepped towards her, and she took a step back, drawing her leather purse protectively in front of her. Another man also climbed out of the car, bigger and more brutish than Luis, with black hair and somewhat vacant, bright blue eyes. She watched as the goon placed his hand under his jacket near his waist.

"What do you want?" she demanded of Luis, switching her gaze back and forth between the gun she knew was under that jacket and him, her voice cracking slightly.

"You took something from me," Luis said. "Two things, actually." His gaze narrowed icily, and Julia started to shake. Luis had always been a little scary, but looming over her like this, she was absolutely terrified.

"I only did what you asked me," she stammered. "I bailed out Valerie. You never said I had to let you kill her."

"It wasn't your responsibility to protect her, either," he said. "Or the money she stole from me."

Julia blinked, knowing that money had already gone towards the bond they'd lost, and took another step back. She glanced up at the house, half expecting to see Carly looking through the window, or, god forbid, Ellen or Jacob.

"Your family's out," Luis said. "I made sure. I wouldn't do this in front of your children."

"Do what?" she asked weakly.

"You know what," he said. "You helped Valerie get away from me. If I can't punish her, then I will punish the woman who helped her. You understand," he added. "This is my business. Someone needs to pay."

He stepped aside and the blue-eyed muscle came forward, and this time he showed the pistol.

"Get in the car, Julia," Luis ordered. "Trust me, it'll be quick. We'll make it look like an accident for your family."

"Um…I….I…."

"That wasn't a request."

"Please, I…Wait, I just—"

"Grab her," Luis ordered, and the goon stepped forward, and Julia opened her mouth to scream.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Pete's voice called out, and, before she understood what was happening, he had run into the gap between her and Luis. He had his hands up, his phone in one of them, the other pushing outwards, as if to ward off the goon and Luis. He had his back to Julia, forcing her back another step, but he looked at her over his shoulder, that strange smile on his face that she wasn't sure was an actual smile.

"You okay?" he asked her.

She just blinked. "Pete?"

He inclined his head to her, still smiling, as if to say "don't worry, I've got this," and turned to face Luis.

"What's going on?" he asked Luis. "Maybe it's something I can help with?"

Luis was frowning at Pete. His hired muscle had dropped the jacket back over the gun, clearly waiting for an order.

"You're her cousin," Luis said eventually. "Pete."

"That I am," Pete said. "And, as you know, my cousin's brother's is also a cop and I've got him on speed-dial." He shook the phone in his hand. "But I don't think we need to do anything too crazy here, like call anyone or do anything unnecessary that could result in anyone getting hurt." The smile grew. "I understand you may be, uh, missing some money? Somewhere in the neighborhood of seventy-five thousand dollars?"

Luis' eye twitched; Julia could almost see his mind turning as he tried to deal with this wild card.

"What do you know about it?" he asked gruffly.

"Not a lot, not a lot," Pete said quickly, shrugging. "Just that you're missing that money, stolen by a woman that Julia unfortunately lost. A criminal whom, you may recall, you asked Julia to bail out, which she did, and now Julia's out some money as well, because it was a high bail. That's right, isn't it?"

He looked over his shoulder at her again, and she nodded shakily. "Yeah. It was…it was a lot of money." _What the hell was he doing?_

"So, the way I see it," Pete continued, turning away from her, "you were both screwed by this woman, who is now in the wind with no way to track her."

"Your cousin helped her escape," Luis stated.

"Ah, see, you don't know that," Pete said, holding up a finger. "You're guessing. I'm not. Julia's a lot of things, but she's no lawbreaker. She wouldn't have helped someone skip, particularly not with that much money on the line. And especially not knowing that you'd come after her if she did, which you have. Truth is, Julia's got a soft heart, and…" He smiled again. "…And she can be a little gullible sometimes. I'm guessing Valerie talked her into stopping somewhere, perhaps because of the baby, or because she had to pee, and she took advantage of Julia's trust. Played on that gullibility. And now she's gone, and both of you are screwed as a result."

It was like a record scratch in her mind. What did he just call her?

"Gullible?" Julia repeated, looking at the back of Marius' head. He looked at her, and she frowned. "Is that what you think of me?"

He looked briefly confused at the statement, then frowned. "Yes," he said. "You are. Because you're good hearted. It's easy to prey on that."

She felt a touch of her earlier rage emerge inside her at his words. But Pete…No, _Marius_ …had already moved on, talking a mile a minute, distracting Luis and the goon, talking about making some sort of deal, something that could "benefit all of them." But she had, in fact, lost the thread of the conversation because the words "prey" and "gullible" were ringing inside her head like a sort of chant. How dare he? How _dare_ he? She was not prey! Her family was not-

"Julia," Marius said then, "how much do you think you can get?"

She blinked quickly, her fury still very much present. "What?" she snapped.

"For the deal," he said, eyebrows lifted. "How much?"

She just shook her head. She didn't know what he was talking about.

He frowned again, but more in worry now, she could tell, worry for her. He was worried about her.

And just as it had in the car, her anger faded, because he was standing between her and Luis. He was risking his life to save her.

The confusion came back full force. She did not understand him at all. _Who the hell are you?_ She wanted to ask. _Why are you doing this for me?_

"Okay, it's okay," he said to her, his voice soothing. _He must think I'm too scared to contribute¸_ she realized as he turned back to Luis once more. "Look, Luis, can I call you Luis?" he asked.

"No."

"Okay, right, no problem. So, here's the thing. We don't have any money, because Valerie skipped the bond. But if we could find some cash, or, say, if you were willing to lend us even a small amount – say twenty-five thousand? – then I promise you, in two weeks, we'll double what Valerie stole from you - a hundred and fifty thousand, all yours, no strings, just a get out of jail free card for Julia and her family."

"No deal."

Marius tilted his head. "Why?"

"Because I need to send a message. What happened with Valerie cannot happen with anyone else I employ or work with. She got away. Someone has to pay."

"And someone will. But with money, not blood. And you can't tell me that money isn't a lot more valuable to you than a life."

Luis' eyes narrowed, obviously thinking. Then he said, "A hundred-fifty's not enough for what she did."

Marius grimaced. "What's your number then?"

"Double it again."

"Three hundred thousand?"

"Yeah."

"You only lost seventy-five."

"And my revenge. That's worth a lot more. It's worth her life," he glanced at Julia, and Julia swallowed nervously, clutching her purse again to her chest.

Marius' lips pursed, and he looked at Julia as well over his shoulder. She met his almost calculating gaze, terrified once again.

"What's the matter?" Luis taunted. "You saying her life's not worth three hundred thousand? Because if that's what you're saying, then we'll take her right now and—"

"We'll do it," Marius said. He lifted his chin. "But we need that seed money."

Luis gave a tiny smile, and asked, "What's my collateral?"

"I am. Your man here…what's your name?"

The goon looked at Luis. Luis' eyes narrowed.

"His name is Tony."

"Tony can be my shadow. I promise to never be out of his line of sight. He'll be with me every second of every day. If he thinks I'm trying to pull something, or to get out of town, or something else along those lines..." He shrugged. "He can kill me. And I'll be the life you take for Valerie's."

Julia's eyes widened. _What?_

Luis shook his head. "No. Julia's the one who—"

"She has two little kids, and a whole family that cares about her. I don't think you're the kind of person that would take a mother away from her kids – I know you could have gone up to the house before she came, but you didn't. You probably waited until the kids were gone. But me? I don't have any kids. I'm just the cousin, and one that's…a little questionable. I know I'm not worth as much as she is, but the family's not going to lash out at you the same way as they would if you killed her. They'll mourn, but they'll just assume I did it to myself. Which is kind of true." He smiled that sad smile again.

Julia's heart wrenched, even as her mind still stumbled over the fact that he wasn't really her cousin.

"Pete," she croaked. "You can't.…"

"And there's one more condition," Pete said then. Luis frowned.

"I don't like additional conditions," the man said.

"This one's easy, I promise. For the next two weeks, you have to leave Julia and her family alone. You don't follow them or threaten them or…whatever else it is you do. You let them be. You can terrify the crap out of me as much as you like, but you leave them alone."

Luis pursed his lips, eyes going back and forth between Julia and Pete.

"So what do you say?" Pete asked Luis then. "Do we have a deal?"

And, amazingly, Luis inclined his head. He even smiled. "Alright. Two weeks. I'll get you the money. Tony, you stay with him. As for you…" Luis looked at Julia, his dark eyes feeling like they were staring right through her. "You're lucky your cousin loves you this much. I'm not sure I would have done that for any of mine."

Julia just blinked, her mind reeling as Pete…Marius…as he stepped closer to her, taking her arm and she unconsciously leaned on him.

Luis stared at them a moment longer, then turned away. In moments, he was climbing into that black monstrosity of a car and driving away.

Tony watched the car leave, frowning slightly, and looked at Pete.

"Can, um…can we have a minute to talk?" Pete asked Tony. The goon sneered, and Pete smiled. "Like I said, we won't leave your sight, but there's no rule about my having a quiet word with her now, is there? You scared her, she needs a minute. Give us a break, yeah?"

Julia watched as Tony thought that over. He clearly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed because a moment later he nodded and backed off a few paces so that he'd be out of earshot. He did rest his hand on what was obviously his gun, though.

A moment later, Pete was facing her directly, his warms hands on her arms, holding her in place. It was oddly comforting; she did actually feel safer.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently. "I mean that. Are you okay right now?"

She tried to nod, to appear calm and cool, but a tear rolled down her face and she knew she couldn't lie.

"No. Not really. That was…" She shook her head, turning her gaze away.

"I know. Believe me. I'm sorry. Take a breath."

So, she did. She took a deep breath and sighed. It helped.

And then she looked him in the eye. Marius' eyes. He wasn't her cousin. He was a stranger. Why would a stranger just do what he did?

"Why did you do that?" she asked him.

"Do what?"

"That. With Luis."

"He was going to kill you."

"I know. But…why did you get involved?"

She knew the question was a pregnant one, at least for her. He frowned slightly, studying her. Or rather reading her, she realized.

"I got _involved_ ," he said, putting stress on the word, "because I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want anyone in your family to get hurt." He frowned again, and he could feel his eyes searching her face. "Do you believe me?"

Oddly, she did, because she was nodding even without consciously meaning to.

"Okay then." He looked over at Tony, then back to Julia. "Because now that that's settled, we have a problem."

"Yeah, three hundred thousand of them," she said, agreeing. She eyed him. "Which your life now depends on."

"That's part of it, yes," he said. "But I'm less worried about that than the other, because even if we solve this problem with Luis, you still have a problem with the person who started all this."

Julia frowned. "You mean, Lance?"

Pete actually chuckled a little at that, but shook his head. "No. I mean Dockery."

Julia instantly shuddered. Oh. Dockery.

"I'm guessing he still thinks he owns you," Pete said.

She shrugged. "He sort of does."

"Then we need to solve that problem as well as the Luis problem. And I may have an idea how."

Her frown deepened. "Really? How?"

"I need to check on some things, but, tell me this, do you know if Luis has given the money back to Dockery yet? The money he was supposed to be laundering for you?"

"Uh…" Julia tried to remember that night in the park. Did the money come up? Or was it just about Valerie? "I don't know."

"Then probably not, but we should find out. I'll ask Tony over there; he looks like a talker." He smirked and Julia snorted a small laugh.

"You might want to rethink that part of the plan," she said, still smiling.

"Oh ye of little faith," he said. "I'm good at getting people to tell me things."

She tried not to react at those words, even though they chilled her a little. She realized she kept defaulting to thinking of him as Pete. Marius. He's Marius. She frowned again.

"Yeah," she said. "You are good at that, at conning people, aren't you?"

He gave an ever so tiny smile at those words, even as his face stayed cool. "Yeah," he agreed. "Sometimes."

She shrugged again. "So, what's your plan?"

"A classic. Two alpha males, one pot, you get them to fight each other over it instead of cooking you in it."

She frowned again. "How?" she repeated.

"You let me worry about that. But you need to trust me."

She hesitated. She couldn't help it. "Trust you," she repeated.

He nodded. "It doesn't work if you don't trust me. Do you? Do you trust me?"

She took in a deep breath, the truth of who he was rushing through her mind clashing with everything she'd seen him do, including saving her just now. It was like a maelstrom.

But she made a decision.

For now, she needed him. If he really had a plan, then….

"Yes," she said. "I do. Pete."

He smiled again, very briefly, then nodded. "Alright then. I have some things I need to do. I'll see you later?"

"At the farm?" she asked. "For dinner?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "I…you think it's a good idea?"

"Yeah. You said you wanted to explain things to the family."

"I do, it's why I came here first, to talk it through with you before I faced everyone else. But…" He grimaced.

"But?"

"I have Tony. How do I explain that? After bringing Marius home with mom the other day, I don't know if I can bring in another stranger."

She pursed her lips, glancing at the goon. Tony was watching them both, his arms crossed over a massive barrel chest. He really was intimidating despite the eyes; it was obvious why Luis hired him.

"Maybe not tonight, then," she agreed. "But soon. I'll think of something."

He nodded. "Give my regards to everyone. And I'll be in touch – probably call you later."

She smiled, then, without really thinking about it, she grabbed him in a hug. He tensed initially, but then seemed to give in to it.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "For saving my life."

He didn't reply, and so she just squeezed him again and let go. Then she was walking away up the path to her house. She stopped when she got to the top of the stairs, turning to see if they were still there. They were. Marius was watching her, his expression curiously uncertain. Tony just watched Marius.

She raised a hand to him, and went inside, locking the door behind her.

She glanced around, and her gaze settled on Ellen's purple backpack sitting innocently on the coffee table. Her baby girl.

Her baby girl has almost lost her mother.

And just like that, the fact that she'd almost been killed hit like a ton of bricks, and she started crying.

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Marius watched Julia close the door behind her, and guessed she was locking it. She was a smart woman. She was also strong and clever, beautiful too. He really would do anything for her. He'd do anything for any of them. Getting between her and Luis hadn't been planned, it had just happened. And he did have a plan, or at least the beginnings of one.

But that wasn't what was consuming his thoughts right now.

She _knew_.

It shouldn't have felt like a punch to the chest, but it did. As much as he tried to tell himself it had just been another job, another set of marks, another chapter in his life to move on from, his heart _hurt_. Marjorie had been right, he just hadn't wanted to admit it. He was such a fool.

He'd meant it, about not wanting to hurt them. He wouldn't. But Julia knowing, which meant they would soon all know… What the hell had he been thinking?

He was supposed to be better than this. First rule, don't fall for your own con. And he had. He hated himself for that.

He knew the only reason she hadn't confronted him with it was because Luis had shown up and derailed whatever she'd been planning. But how long would she keep it to herself? She would have to tell them all, and it'd probably happen soon.

He just hoped it wouldn't be until after he'd gone, which he now couldn't do until he'd dealt with Luis and Dockery for Julia. Facing the family once they knew the truth, that he was nothing to them, he didn't think he could handle that.

A few feet away, Tony cleared his throat. Marius looked over at the goon, and nodded.

"Yeah," he said to his new shadow. "Sorry. You're right, we should get going. I gotta go find a room somewhere to stay. Adjoining rooms?"

"One room."

"Hope you don't snore."

"It's a vain hope."

"Great," Marius said with a sigh. "My car's over there. Let's go."

Tony shrugged and followed. For half a second, Marius thought about running. Really running. He could do it, there would be opportunities. He knew how to get away from men like Tony. It wouldn't be hard.

But then again, maybe there was something else he could get out of this. Dockery had money. At least five hundred thousand, and probably more. If this brief time in Bridgeport was about to end, he may as well have something to show for it.

Nodding to himself, he opened the doors and got in. As Tony climbed into the other side, grunting slightly, Marius smirked.

He had a plan.

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 **TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

Julia's Dilemma  
By Tipper

CHAPTER TWO: THE BAD PLAN

"This was a bad plan!" Julia screamed at Marius as the bullets slammed into the trees and ground around them. She was hunched behind a (thankfully) stout oak, bits of bark flying past her like confetti.

"This was not my plan!" he yelled back, hunkered down behind a fallen tree with Taylor. "My plan did not involve you two barging in and starting a gun fight!"

"You're welcome, by the way," Taylor sneered. As Julia watched, her brother took advantage of a lull in the fire to pop up and send off a few shots of his own. She had yet to fire her own gun, her fingers felt frozen on the metal.

"Stop that!" Marius yelled at her brother. "Stop shooting!"

"They're shooting at us!" Taylor snapped back as the bullets started afresh, forcing the two men to hunch down even more. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Stop! I need to finish what I started in there! I have to talk to Dockery!"

"You're crazy!" Taylor sent a couple more shots back, then dug for more bullets. "He was going to kill you!" he added as he shakily plugged bullets into the magazine of his gun. Julia took a deep breath to gather her will, then wildly shot a few bullets at Dockery's cabin/meth lab. Her gun, unlike Taylor's, only had six bullets, so she didn't use them all. She caught a flash of Dockery's face as he and one of his men – Garrick, she thought – ducked back inside the door. She pulled back, breathing even harder, amazed she'd actually shot at them.

"Wait? Is that your service revolver?" Marius demanded, a touch shrilly Julia thought.

"Yes," Taylor replied.

"Jesus Christ, Taylor! They could trace the bullets back to you!"

"Shut up, Pete! This is the thanks we get for saving your life?"

"You didn't save my life!"

"What?" Julia shouted, shaking from adrenalin. "Like hell! You left us a message that Dockery had killed Luis, leaving you to face Dockery alone over the missing money!" She shook her head. "What were we supposed to do? And when we got here, Dockery had you sitting in a chair in the middle of the cabin with a gun to your head!"

"We were negotiating," Marius snarled, then yelped as a chunk of wood slapped the side of his face. It left a slash of red, and Julia smirked slightly. "God damn it!" he shouted, touching his bleeding face with obvious annoyance. "Would everyone please just stop firing!"

"Not a chance," Taylor snapped, "not until they do."

Julia agreed by shooting a few more bullets at the cabin from her position, emptying the gun. She then ducked back down, and shuddered as she felt the tree shake from the impact of Dockery's guns.

Truth was, they were in a really bad position. This cabin of Dockery's, hidden deep in the woods well outside of Bridgeport, had only one way in – the road they'd driven in on – which was currently on the other side of the cabin. She and Taylor had come in the front, managing to surprise Dockery where he'd been about to shoot Marius in the head (at least, so it seemed), but then Garrick, one of Dockery's goons, had come up the road behind them, and they'd all had to run out the back. Now they were trapped behind trees just twenty feet from the cabin's back door, being shot at by Dockery and Garrick. Even if they could somehow manage to run deeper into the woods without taking a bullet to the back, these woods were all Dockery land. He knew it far better than they did, and he'd find them long before they could find their way out. They were trapped unless they could get back round to the front and get to the car, or they ran out of bullets.

"At least let me try to talk to him!" Marius shouted. "Please!"

"And say what?" Taylor demanded.

"Stop asking me dumb questions and you'll find out!"

"You calling me dumb?"

"Oh for…. Yes! Right now, yes! We will die if you don't let me try!"

Julia could see the fury in Taylor's face at that, but then a bullet crashed through some leaves by his head, and he grimaced. He pulled his gun down and nodded.

"Fine."

Julia took her cue from her brother and hunkered down.

During the next lull in the firing from the cabin, Marius sat up.

"Dockery!" he shouted. "You need to listen to me!"

"I don't need to do anything, little man!" Dockery shouted back. "Soon as you run out of bullets, we'll have all three of you!"

"Not about that," Marius said. "About why I came here in the first place, about the missing money!"

"Oh, that again?"

"As I was saying before my cousins came crashing in - Luis didn't lie to you! He found the missing three hundred thousand and brought the money here with the rest. That and a surprise; it was my mistake that I thought the surprise was that he'd given you my cousin!" Marius looked at Julia when he said that, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"What?" Taylor asked. "Julia?"

"I thought he had you," Marius said more quietly to Julia, his eyes as dark and as clear as she'd ever seen. "I'd convinced Tony to let me go, once Luis was dead. I only came out here because Tony said Luis had dragged a person up here to surprise Dockery, a present, to go along with the money. When I couldn't reach you, I thought it must be you."

Actually, she'd been ducking his calls, his and everyone else's. Once they'd gotten the three hundred thousand a couple of days ago – which Marius had brilliantly scammed off the person laundering Dockery's money for Luis, so it had really been Dockery's money – and handed it to Luis, with Luis none the wiser about where it had come from, Julia had realized that she could no longer keep lying to the family about who Marius was. But she also no longer really wanted to tell them. Her heart had been trying to convince her mind that, maybe Marius _could_ be Pete. Her hesitancy had left her avoiding everyone's calls while she made a decision.

"You thought he had Julia?" Taylor said, still clearly not quite caught up. "Why?" But Julia knew why - because Dockery thought he "owned" her - and, damn it, now she felt guilty!

"You really thought I had your cousin?" Dockery sneered from the cabin. "Are you nuts? Why would I want her up here? This is more lies! There's no money and no surprise. You're stalling for some reason!"

"I'm not stalling!" Marius called back. "The money and the surprise are in there! He told Tony in front of me. He knew that you thought he'd stolen the money he was laundering for you, when he told you it'd take a few more days to get, and he wanted to make it up to you. If Tony's still alive in there, he will tell you! Why do you think he came here with me? We thought we could find the money before you showed up!"

"Wait, Tony's here?" Julia asked, looking past the edge of the tree, as if she would see the man himself pop his head out.

"So, you _really_ came up here for the money," Taylor said, nodding to himself. Marius gave him a pained look, but didn't disagree. Julia felt she knew Marius well enough now that it was likely both.

"Tony's in the kitchen where you left him," Dockery confirmed from the cabin, "but he doesn't look too good."

"He's having an allergic reaction to all the poison ivy or sumac or whatever it is you've got out front," Marius yelled. "I told you that before. He swelled up, and now he's suffocating. There's an epipen in my car, in the glove box. If you would just—"

"No way."

"He'll die, otherwise!"

"And that's a problem?"

"It is, because he can confirm what I'm saying! The money's there."

"And why did Luis hide that money in this cabin again?"

"Because he knew it was yours! He wanted you to know that he knew about the cabin, and the meth lab underneath it, probably to blackmail you with it later. Of course, you killed him before he could tell you all this, because you thought he was stealing from you. But, I promise you, it's there! Ask Tony!"

That earned a few blessed moments of silence, then, "It's no good. The man's dead. Ugly way to die, I'll give you that."

Marius actually looked saddened by that, which was surprising, since Tony had been his dreaded shadow for almost two weeks. He'd even come to dinner with the family last Sunday, because Otto had been insistent that Pete come once he knew Pete was still in town, and, curiously, it turned out Tony had a sense of humor. It had been an interesting night. But being funny didn't mean he was friendly…he had still been there, Julia knew, to kill Marius if Luis hadn't gotten his money.

"Then I'm your best chance to find that money in that cabin," Marius yelled to Dockery after a moment. "I know where it is. I'll show you, if you'll let me!"

"And, what, your cousins just give up their weapons while you're at it?"

"No. They leave. They never come back. I'll show you where the money is, and you let them go."

"Ah, now I see. You're trying to save them!"

"Obviously, I am! But I do know where the money is. I also know that the surprise Luis left for you is with it."

"Not falling for it! You're trying to give them time to get away!"

"Yes, I am! I'm trying to trade you the money for their lives, Dockery! What do you say?"

"Then, what, they tell the rest of the cops or the feds, and they come out here and—?"

"Actually," Marius called, "that's the other thing I was trying to tell you."

That earned another long moment of silence. Then, "Fine, I'll bite. What fresh bull are you telling me now?"

"The feds already know about the cabin. Luis had what he thought was an insurance policy – the location of this cabin would be sent to the feds if he was killed. Again, you sort of killed him before he could tell you about it. Now he's dead…." Marius shrugged. "I don't know how long it might take 'em to get up here. If Tony were still alive, he'd tell you. He's the one that sent them the information!"

"When did he send it?"

"I…I'm not sure. All I know is that you don't have a lot of time to find that money yourself. You need to burn this place down before they come and get the hell out of town. If you let my cousins go, I'll show you where the money is and then we can _all_ leave."

"You're crazy if you think he'll let you go, Pete," Taylor whispered loudly to Marius. "He'll kill you as soon as he has the cash!"

"But you'll both be safe," Marius answered. "And I've got a plan. I'll be fine."

"You have a plan," Taylor repeated, nonplussed. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm still calling this all bullshit!" Dockery yelled from the cabin. He was obviously having his own side conversations with Garrick in there. Or perhaps Garrick was already looking for the money supposedly hidden inside.

"Think about it!" Marius yelled. "Why in the world would Tony and I have been up here, at this god forsaken place in the middle of nowhere, standing in the middle of your meth lab bomb of a cabin, if we didn't think there was something to be found! You found us up here because we were looking for Julia and the money! What other possible reason could there be?"

Another longish pause followed that statement, and Taylor and Julia looked at each other and then at Marius. Marius was shaking slightly, although it wasn't obvious if it was from terror or excitement. Terror was obvious, but Julia sensed that, in a strange way, Marius was also enjoying this. Negotiating with crazy men like Dockery seemed to be something he was good at.

"I still think you're lying, Murphy!" Dockery shouted. "We looked around – there's no obvious place that Luis could have stashed anything in this cabin. It's only three rooms and the big lab in the basement. Where could he possibly have put it?"

"You let my cousins go, and I'll tell you!"

Julia could almost hear Dockery's growl at that.

But he hadn't said no yet.

"If he says yes, you go around the cabin through the trees," Marius whispered at them. "Go slow and keep the trees as cover until you get back to your car. He's going to still try to take you out the moment you start moving. Julia, if you lend me your gun, I can cover you if he tries. He won't try to kill me, not if—"

"I think I'd rather just kill your cousins and then cut pieces off of you until you tell me where the money is," Dockery shouted. "If the feds were coming, I'd know. So why don't you all give up now, and I promise, I'll kill 'em quick."

"Fuck," Marius sighed, looking down. Then he looked at Taylor. "Okay, you can go back to shooting at him now."

Taylor smirked slightly, checked his magazine, and took a breath. Julia's fingers tightened on her own gun, she couldn't deny that she was absolutely terrified now.

"Dockery!" Otto's voice shouted from somewhere to their left. "You let my grandkids go!"

All three of them flinched, and Julia, because her tree was upright, was the first to see him. Otto was standing just inside the treeline, scrub brush thick around his feet, a rifle in his hands. He had it pointed at the back of the cabin.

"Otto?" Dockery yelled, sounding almost amused. "You have to be kidding me!"

"Shit," Marius whispered. He'd popped his head up as well to see. "Stay here," he whispered, staying low and moving on his hands and knees through the trees in Otto's direction.

Otto, meanwhile, was yelling again.

"I'm warning you, Dockery! I'm not alone! You let those kids go, and maybe you'll survive what's to come!"

"And what's that, old man? You and Audrey both out there? Maybe Carly too? How 'bout Julia's kids? Seriously, what possible threat could you be to me?"

"I'm not the only one with family, son! You got one too, and this cabin isn't on your land, it's on theirs. You think they like what you've done? The mess you've made?"

"Oh, that's crossing a line, Bernhardt! You think you have any right to speak of them! After what you did? You think getting me back that money makes up for the fact that you stole it in the first place? Fuck you, Otto!"

"No!" Julia shouted, because she saw the flash of Dockery's rifle as he fired towards Otto. Her eyes widened as a blur of blue and gray burst out of the trees, knocking Otto down and into the scrub brush. Marius and Otto rolled, until Marius got them up and behind a tree.

Taylor bellowed in fury, firing towards the cabin. Julia's own vision reddened. Almost without realizing what she was doing, she had raised her gun and sent all six bullets at anything she could see that moved. A yelp from the cabin followed their onslaught, and a body fell. Not Dockery, Garrick, the man lying half in, half out of the door. Emboldened, Julia twisted and pulled more bullets out of her jacket to fill her gun. Maybe they had a chance….

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Marius coughed, a sharp stinging in his side from where he'd run into a sharp branch or something. He checked on Otto, who was breathing hard, sweat at his temples. Without thinking, he touched a hand to Otto's neck, checking the pulse, which was racing. Not good for a man who'd just had a stroke. With some effort, he got Otto sitting up with his back to the tree they were hiding behind to help him breathe better, while Marius crouched, a little wobbly, in front of him.

"You okay?" he asked, glancing quickly around the trunk towards the cabin. The firefight was back in full swing.

Otto looked at him a little glassily, but he nodded. "Are you?" he asked.

"Fine," Marius said, looking at Otto again, this time checking him over from head to toe. There was some blood on his shirt near his stomach, but it didn't look like a lot, nor was it growing. A scratch - good. Once the relief faded, though, he frowned angrily. "What the hell were you thinking? Dockery could have killed you!"

"I…" Otto coughed, and Marius instinctively reached forward to brace him, help him through the wracking cough. "Damn," the man muttered. "Think I got the wind knocked out of me when you did that."

"I saved your life."

"Yeah," Otto said, a weak smile. "I figured that out. Thanks."

Marius tried not to roll his eyes, and he checked on Julia and Taylor. Still holding their own. Hell. He needed another plan, because now he had to get all three of them out of here.

"If you must know," Otto said, "I thought Kwahu would do something about his son."

Marius' brow furrowed, looking at Otto again. "What?"

"Kwahu came with me. He and his brother, Chayton's uncle, are in the woods on the other side of the cabin. He'd promised to back me up, but I guess he changed his mind." Otto looked genuinely disappointed by that.

Marius' eyebrows lifted. "Why would Kwahu help you?"

"Because of that man who came into the office the other day, the one who you bumped into with Julia on your way out. Remember him?"

Marius did, of course. He remembered just about everyone he'd ever met. An image of a clean-cut man came to mind, dressed in a cheap but clean suit. And the eyes—dark as night, they hadn't blinked as they'd looked Marius up and down.

Oh.

"He was a Fed," Marius said, understanding dawning.

"DEA, I think. Maybe FBI, don't remember now. But apparently, the 'disappearance' of the witness in Chayton's trial raised his profile from low level drug dealer to drug dealer and potential murderer. And they also got a tip that Chayton might be manufacturing his own meth up here on the Dockery land. They were sniffing around, wanting to know any info we might have on Chayton. I steered them away, not because I like Chayton, but because I thought doing that and then warning Kwahu might get him on our side."

Marius nodded. He'd provided that tip to the FBI as soon as he was able to slip away from Tony that first day. He was surprised they'd acted so quickly. Perhaps the lie about Luis sending them the cabin's location might have some truth.

"Did it work?" he asked Otto.

"Sort of. Did you know the road up here has a camera on it? Kwahu called me because his men saw you come up here with that Tony fellow, and thought, when he saw Chayton follow, that you might be in some trouble. Then, when the cameras picked up Julia and Taylor speeding up the same road, he was sure."

Marius grimaced. No, he hadn't known about the camera. He sighed, lowering his head to think. With all the shooting going on in the background, it wasn't easy. Any moment, he was certain that he'd hear Julia or Taylor cry out in pain, and then what would he do? If either of them got hurt…

 _No, no, clear your mind, Marius. Think. Think!_

"What do we do now, Pete?" Otto asked, almost plaintively. "I misjudged Kwahu. I genuinely thought that he'd help us."

 _He still might_ , Marius thought grimly, _given the right incentive._

He lifted his head, and then stood. The movement seemed to rip something in his side, and he grunted, pressing his side through his dark blue trench.

"What are you doing?" Otto asked.

"Ending this," Marius said. Then he shouted: "Dockery!"

When the gunfire didn't immediately stop, he raised a hand and stepped out partially from behind the tree. "Julia and Taylor, stop firing! Dockery, you need to listen to me! I made a mistake!"

A bullet hit a thick branch by his head, and Marius flinched, quickly ducking back behind the tree with Otto.

"Please!" he yelled. "Hear me out!"

"Why?" Dockery shouted. He sounded a little breathless, which was a good thing. Julia and Taylor had stopped firing at his command, and Marius silently thanked the powers that be that they'd done as he'd asked, for once.

"Because I made a mistake!" he called to Dockery. "And you need to hear what it is!"

There was a momentary silence, then, "What is it?"

"I was wrong about the surprise! I thought it was Julia, but now I think the present is something that will screw you when the Feds raid this place – someone that you wanted or had killed. I mean it, I think you need to get the hell out of here before the Feds show up!"

"You just keep lying," Dockery shouted.

"I swear to you, they are coming! They've been in town asking about you. And, yeah, maybe you were right initially, that I was stalling for time, because maybe I was. Maybe I was stalling because I really do think they could show up any minute. And if they do, if that cabin is not burned to the ground, you are never getting out of jail!"

"This is just more trickery! I know you're a con, Pete Murphy! I know you would say anything to—"

"This is not a con! If you don't believe me, ask your father." Marius looked to the woods then, hoping that this would work. "Kwahu! If you're out there, please help me warn your son. If he doesn't run now, before the feds get here, they'll put a net on this land so tight, he'll never be free again."

"What is with your family!" Dockery shouted. "You keep presuming to—"

"Son," Kwahu's deep voice rumbled out of the woods. "He is not lying. I wish he were, but he's not."

Marius almost fainted in relief, and he braced a hand against the tree to hold himself up. He actually felt a little light-headed from all of this.

"Dad?" Chayton called.

"Here," Kwahu answered. A rustling somewhere on the other side of the back clearing revealed Kwahu stepping out from the trees. He had three men with him, one as gray-haired as himself, which must have been Chayton's uncle. "This has gone on long enough."

"I…?" Dockery called. "What are you doing here?"

"Otto came to me, to warn me agents were in town, asking about you. A little while later, two federal agents came up to the house; they badly upset your mother, Chayton. At this point, we've all lied for you for so long, this shouldn't have been new, but federal agents…that was new." Kwahu looked just incredibly depressed by all of this, his head bowed so low on his shoulders, it looked to Marius like he might just collapse into a puddle. "You need to listen to these people. If Otto hadn't warned me after that degenerate Luis Mercado sold you out, you might not have this chance to run."

"But…?" Chayton asked. "What could they know? They don't have anything on me!"

"They know about this cabin," Marius said, stepping out from behind the tree again, his hands raised. Otto had pushed himself up to stand behind it, but he was still breathing with difficulty and was clearly having a hard time holding up the rifle to cover him.

"They know there's a meth lab under it," Marius continued. "And, like I said, if the present is what I think it is, they're also going to find the dead body of the witness from your last case."

He could see Chayton Dockery now, just inside the door, staring at him with a surprised and confused expression. He also saw the unmoving form of Garrick lying in the door frame. That was a problem, if the Feds traced the bullet to Julia or Taylor.

"Son," Kwahu said, "It's true. I just got a call that five black SUVs just left the center of town, headed in this direction. I think, maybe, you have fifteen minutes before they get here. You have to run, and you have to do it now."

Dockery stared at his father, eyes wide, then his gaze swiveled to look at Julia and Taylor, both still pointing guns at him, then, finally, to Marius and Otto. The gun twitched at his side.

"Now, Chayton," Kwahu said. "There's no time. We'll take care of Garrick and Luis' man. We'll also take care to burn down the cabin, but it likely won't be enough to hide what you've been doing here. You need to leave, and I don't think you'll ever be able to come back."

Chayton looked at his father, and, for once, he actually looked lost.

"Never come back?" he repeated, sounding bereft. "But…I…."

"If you don't leave, they'll send you away and we will only ever see you behind bars. I don't want that to happen to you. Get away. We'll find you when it's safe to do so."

Dockery blinked. Then his brow furrowed, and he pointed his gun at Marius. "Show me where the money is! Now!"

Marius' eyebrows lifted. "I—"

"There's no money, son. On that, I'm pretty sure he was lying."

The gun shook in Chayton's hands, still pointed at Marius.

"Was it a lie?" he asked, his voice choked.

"Yeah," Marius said. "It was. There's no money. I really did think he'd brought Julia up here—that's the only reason I came. And now I really do think he brought a dead body instead." He frowned. "You need to go."

Chayton's hand holding the gun shook even more, and Marius could feel the tension as Taylor, Julia and Otto all pointed their own guns right back at him. Chayton had to know if he shot Marius, he'd be killing himself.

Then, without a word, Chayton dropped the gun. He stared at Marius for a second longer, then turned and sprinted back through the cabin to the front. A second after that, they heard his truck engine firing up and the sound of his tires peeling down the dirt road away from the cabin.

Marius leaned forward, putting his hands to his knees and shaking badly from what had just happened.

"You should go," Kwahu said. "Otto, you should go now. We'll take care of the cabin." His family had already headed inside to collect the bodies.

"But if the Feds come and find you burning it down," Otto said, his voice tremulous, "they could arrest you for aiding and abetting, maybe even conspiracy. This cabin's on your land. If you're anywhere near it when they find it—"

"I'll take that risk."

"No," Marius said, looking up. "You won't. I will."

Kwahu frowned.

"Julia, Taylor," Marius said, looking to them. "You need to get grandpa out of here and maybe to a hospital."

"Hospital?" Julia repeated.

"Grandpa?" Taylor said. "What's wrong?"

"I'm okay," Otto said. "Just a little shaky."

"He said he had the wind knocked out of him, but I think it's more than that," Marius said. "He needs to be checked out. I checked his pulse, and I think it's erratic. How did you get here?" he asked Otto then.

"Kwahu drove me."

"Good, then we don't have another car to drive. Please," he said to his cousins, "get him out of here." He looked to Kwahu then. "And I'll burn down the cabin."

"Why would you do that?" Kwahu asked.

"Because you saved our lives. And because I can usually talk my way out of almost anything. I've dealt with the Feds before; if I don't make it out of here in time, I'll make sure to have a good story that keeps your family out of it."

Kwahu's eyes narrowed slightly. He turned then, checking to see that his brother and the others were taking care of the bodies. They had already removed Garrick, and, as Marius watched, Tony was being brought out, thrown over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes. His heart shuddered a bit at that—he hadn't wanted Tony to die, no matter what his job had been. He'd even liked him a little.

But then again, everyone around him tended to die lately, so it seemed.

"Please," he said, looking at Kwahu. "I don't want anyone else dying or arrested or hurt. I'll burn down the cabin. I can use the gasoline that'll be in the lab; should be a hot enough accelerant to take care of most everything. By the time the Feds get here, it'll be too late."

Kwahu sighed, looking down at his shoes, but, amazingly, he gave a nod.

"Okay."

"But—" Julia began.

"Damn it, you have to get grandpa out of here now!" Marius snapped. "You three definitely cannot get caught by the Feds either. Please! Don't argue with me!"

Taylor's mouth thinned to a line, and he nodded. "Come on, Julia," he said. "Let's go. Grandpa?"

Otto actually looked like he might argue for a moment, but then his eyes fell and he nodded. With Taylor's hand on his back, he let his grandson steer him through the cabin.

Julia hesitated a moment longer, staring at Marius, clearly torn.

"Please," Marius begged her. "This is the best way."

Her lip trembled, but then she nodded in the same defeated manner as her grandfather. She jogged quickly after the others, and Marius watched her go, trying to ignore the feeling of loss at the thought that this was likely the last time he'd see her.

When he looked back to where Kwahu had been, he found the older man had gone. He was alone in the clearing.

Steeling his jaw, he started walking towards the cabin…only to gasp as a sharp, deep pain ran up his side, nearly bringing him to his knees. He reached a hand under his jacket to where he thought he'd just been scratched by a sharp branch, and, with a horrific sense of dread, pulled it out again to find it covered in blood.

Oh god.

Shaking badly now, he staggered forward to the cabin, still staring at his bloody hand, and wondering how he'd missed the fact that he'd been shot.

Vaguely, he heard the sound of Taylor's car driving away, and that of Kwahu's truck, leaving him alone with just his little gray car.

His mind raced, trying to measure the odds that he could get to a hospital in time, and that he'd be able to explain away the injury. He considered and discarded ideas like dealing cards from a deck, looking for the one that would make this right.

He reached into his pocket, lightly touching his phone.

By then, he was inside the cabin, looking around for the main reason he'd stayed. It was a large cabin, with a large central room with a kitchen and a sitting area, and he knew that to each side were bedrooms and a bathroom. There was also a trap door in the floor that would lead down to the meth lab that was currently dormant underneath. Dockery hadn't actually used the lab since the arrest, to keep a low profile, but all the equipment and materials were down there, including the gasoline. Once the fire started, this place would blow.

He found matches in the kitchen, needed for the stove's pilot light and the fireplace.

But first….

The pain in his side intensified with each step, as if to mock his ability to even keep moving. He staggered through to the front door and then turned, heading for the outdoor cooler that was resting against the side of the house, close to the generator. It was a standard cooler, needed for storing meat and ice, about the size of a car trunk. It hummed softly as he approached. It's amazing Dockery hadn't noticed it was on, but then, he'd told the man the money was _inside_ the cabin, not attached to it, and if you didn't go around to the side to check the cooler, how would you know?

Reaching it, he noticed the lock had been broken, probably by Luis. Bracing himself, he lifted off the lock and lifted the top, groaning in pain as it pulled on the wound on his side.

A second later, he was retching into the grass and dirt next to the cooler, the spasms burning his side and nearly causing him to faint.

The girl was someone he didn't even know, though from her skeletal frame, he could guess. She was the hitman's girlfriend. Her health at death screamed drug addict and anorexic, and the body was so tiny that it only took up a third of the cooler. The rest…the rest was taken up by stacks of cash.

Luis had killed her as a gift for the death of Dockery's own attack dog, Wallace Ayawamat, the man with the knife who'd been killed by the hitman Luis had hired. It really had been an attempt to make things right.

He looked at the money now, still thinking, the pain in his side mocking him. Maybe, maybe, he could get to the city and pay someone to save his life with it. But he was also fully aware that it was nearing 3:00 in the afternoon and 95 would be a parking lot all the way into Manhattan. He'd never make it, nor could anyone leave and meet him in time.

Closing his eyes, he pulled out the matches and, with a kick, unplugged the cooler from the cabin. He didn't know how well she'd burn frozen as she was, but he didn't have the strength to pull her out of it. And…he no longer cared about the money.

He struck the match and held it over the open top.

"Stop."

Marius froze, and, slowly, turned his head to look over his shoulder.

Kwahu stood a few feet away.

"I thought you were gone," Marius said, his voice soft against the pain in his side.

"I wanted to see what you would do." The old man's eyebrows lifted. "I will admit, you've surprised me. I thought you'd take the money and run."

Marius said nothing, just waved the match out before it burnt his fingers. Kwahu walked up next to him and looked into the cooler.

"How much?"

"About five hundred thousand."

"And the girl?"

"The girlfriend of the man who killed Ayawamat. I never caught her name."

"Ah."

Marius grimaced. "You shouldn't be here. If they catch you…."

"I know these woods better than the animals," Kwahu said. "I'll be fine. You should go."

Marius gave a tight smile at that. Kwahu looked up at him, his eyes deep and dark.

"I'll take care of her. I'll take care of the money too."

Marius sighed. And backed away, trying not to make the injury too obvious.

"Your family will be fine too," Kwahu promised, his gaze back on the girl in the cooler. "I'll make sure they get some of this money for what my son put them through." Then he reached inside and pulled out a stack of bills. "And you too," he said, handing it to Marius.

Marius snorted, staring at the cash. He could send it to Eddie. If he could get to a post office in time.

The pain in his side mocked his ambition. Surely Kwahu had to smell the blood on him, to Marius it had begun to stink, like metal and death.

"That's okay," he said. "I'm fine."

Kwahu almost seemed to smile then, a sad, pained smile that said he knew that was a lie.

"We can take care of you too," he said then. "If you want us to."

Marius didn't quite know what that meant. For a brief moment, he wondered if Kwahu knew that he was the one that had tipped off the Feds. Or did he mean that he'd take care of the wound. Or…or did he simply mean he'd bury Marius wherever he was burying the other bodies.

"I'm going to go," he said. If he was going to die, it would be on his own terms.

Kwahu just shrugged. "Then go." He'd lowered the hand with the stack of cash. Marius looked at it one more time, knowing that he probably looked like a dog starving for a bit of meat, but he didn't care. Bracing himself one last time, he turned and walked away, headed down he dirt road to where his little car sat.

He was somewhat surprised that he wasn't stopped as he climbed inside, but then his body's relief at sitting down was just too strong and he momentarily lost focus. Blinking rapidly to fend off his actually blacking out, he reached forward and started the car.

He wished he did actually have an epipen in the glove compartment, because it might've come in handy right now. Instead, all he had in there was a gun.

As he pulled away down the dirt road, gasping every time the wheels rocked into a pothole, he looked in the mirrors to see that several of Kwahu's family members were already pulling the girl's body and the money out of the cooler. Others were inside, and he could see the flames already licking at the windows.

Not quite a mile further down the dirt road, he felt the explosion rock the car, the sonic boom briefly deafening his already charged senses.

The road merged with another, then a third, and the surface grew more even. Ahead, he spotted a small sign that said "1.5 miles to Reed Pond" next to a turnoff, and without really thinking about it, he turned down the side road. A pond sounded nice.

He was lucky – just a few yards down the side road, he heard them coming. Gently rolling to a stop next to some bushes, he watched in his mirror as a long string of black SUVs rumbled down the main road behind him, clearly determined to get to the blazing cabin before it was lost. He imagined fire trucks would be following soon behind, to ensure that the fire didn't spread.

With a sigh, he accelerated and continued down the road to the pond.

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Taylor had pulled to the side of the road after they'd seen the black SUV's fly past. They were already back on pavement, only a few miles from the turnoff to the Dockery's land, houses and buildings filling in the gaps. Where they'd stopped, an out of season farm stand stood tattered and lonely in a dirt lot.

For a moment, none of them spoke, then Taylor looked over at Otto.

"How you doing, grandpa?"

Otto sighed. Then he shrugged.

"I'm fine."

"Really?" Julia asked, leaning forward from her seat in the back. "How about your breathing?"

"I'm _fine_ ," Otto repeated with a touch of a growl. "Breathing normal and the heart's steady. I told you I only had the wind knocked out of me." He grimaced. "We shouldn't have left Pete."

Taylor sighed.

"Yeah," he said, his lips twisted in a wry smile. "I was thinking the same thing. But he was probably right—if any of us could talk their way out of trouble, it's him. That was…that was some really fast work he did back there. He really saved our lives."

"Which we risked to save him in the first place," Julia noted.

"Except he only went up there because he thought you were in danger," Taylor noted. "So…" He shrugged.

Julia grimaced. She wondered if that were true, or had he just been after the money? She hated not really knowing.

"Doesn't matter why we were all up there, we still shouldn't have left him," Otto said. "Leaving him at the storage place was one thing, he had his own reasons for staying. This time…? This time he stayed behind to save us."

Julia looked down.

"So, what do you want to do?" Taylor asked.

"He's family. I think we need to make sure he's okay."

Julia frowned. "Um…."

"Yeah," Taylor said to Otto. "You're right. No matter what he and Aunt Maggie might've gotten us into, he's still one of us."

"Yeah, um… About that," Julia said.

"About what?" Taylor said.

"About Pete. There's…. There's something I need to tell you."

Taylor and Otto were both looking at her, and she had the words ready in her mind, their weight on the tip of her tongue. _Pete's not Pete. He's a con man named Marius. He's not family. He's not one of us. He…._

"I think he might've been hurt," she hedged. Damn, she was such a coward.

Taylor frowned. "What?"

"Something about the way he was standing, just…something was off."

It wasn't entirely a lie. She thought he might've been hurt when she saw him step out from the trees to face Dockery. He _had_ looked off.

"Like how?" Otto asked, twisted in the seat to look at Julia more carefully. Taylor glanced at him, and suddenly his eyes widened.

"Grandpa! You're bleeding!"

"What?" Otto spluttered as Taylor threw back his jacket, revealing a stain of blood that had been hidden beneath the fabric. Otto stared at it blankly, reaching to touch it as Taylor quickly started the car again.

"We have to get you to a hospital! That's a lot of blood!"

"No, wait!" Otto ordered. "It's not mine!"

Taylor had already started the car into motion, but at those words, he slammed on the breaks, causing them all to lurch forward.

"What?"

Otto had pulled the shirt out of his pants, revealing stained but untouched skin beneath. "It's not mine."

"Then who…."

"Pete pushed you out of the way when Dockery fired," Julia said, her voice small. "Oh my god, he _was_ hurt."

Taylor gritted his teeth, hit the accelerator and whipped the car around in a circle on the dirt, pelting the farm stand with a spray of pebbles.

"That goddamned idiot," he muttered as they peeled back onto the road, headed back the way they came. "That stupid frikkin' moron!"

Julia just held onto the door handle, praying that they wouldn't be too late.

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TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Julia's Dilemma  
By Tipper

CHAPTER THREE: THE POND

The road ended at a downed log, so Marius parked, climbed out of the car and staggered over to sit on it. Before him, a small pond glittered in the sunlight, maple and flowering apple and cherry trees ringing it like a garland. White and pink Petals floated on the crystal clear water, and, even from here, he could see the tiny fish swimming in schools around the rocks just below the surface.

It was as good a place as any.

He pulled out his phone and dialed the first number on his short list of contacts, then pressed it to his ear. It rang a couple of times, then it was answered.

" _Hi_ ," the voice on the other side said, " _This is Eddie. I obviously didn't pick up, so, you know, leave a message or something."_

Marius closed his eyes, fighting the disappointment, but, to be fair, this was probably easier.

"Hey," he said after the beep, "It's me. I…. I'm calling because…. Because I just wanted to say hi. I know that I don't call very much. Or enough, really. And I'm sorry about that."

He sighed. Maybe this wasn't easier.

"Look," he said, "something's happened and…." He frowned, and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Forget it."

He drew in a deep breath. _Just tell him, Marius._

"Eddie. Thing is, I just want you to know that… that you're the best brother a man could have, and you're the best thing about my life. I hope…I hope you're happy. I want you to be happy, Eddie. That's my one wish, so, for me, if you love me, please…" He sighed again. "Stay free, be good and be happy. You deserve it. And…"

He looked up at the blue sky.

"And I love you. I should have said that more. I love you." He swallowed, and opened his eyes again. "Goodbye little brother."

Hanging up was strangely difficult, but he did it. He then looked down the list of other names, thinking about whether to call them. Marjorie. Katie. Karolina. Porter.

Julia.

Taylor.

Carly.

Otto.

And, of course, Audrey.

His finger hovered over her name for a while. Then he hit the button.

The phone rang just once before she picked up.

"Pete?" she answered. "Is that you? I've been trying to reach you. What's going on?"

He released a shuddery breath.

"Yeah," he said, and he could hear the weakness in his voice now. "It's me."

"Oh god," she said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I just… First, everyone's fine. They're on their way home to you."

He could hear her holding back from asking why everyone would even _need_ to be fine, and, instead, she said, "Are you fine?"

He released another slow breath. It was really beginning to hurt to breathe.

"Pete?" she called. "Please talk to me."

"That's the thing, Gra…Audrey. I'm not…," He breathed again, deep and shuddery. "I'm not Pete. Maggie…and Pete left together. The one…the one you called Marius. That's Pete. I'm Marius. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I lied to you. Please forgive me."

He heard her gasp softly.

"I just… I needed to tell you that. And I needed…I wanted to thank you," he said. "You… all of you… I never had a family before. It was…. I didn't know how much I wanted…. It was … Thank you."

She didn't say anything to that. He hadn't entirely expected her to. A part of him thought she might hang up, but, amazingly, she didn't.

"Funny, you're everything… everything Pete said you were," he told her then, smiling slightly. "He loves you, you know. You're all he talked about, every day. I thought they were rose colored, but it…it was all true. When he comes home, you'll have the real thing. A real grandson to love. And he deserves… he deserves it. He's good. He's genuinely…a good person." _Unlike me._

He heard her take in a deep breath at that, still listening. He was grateful. Because he needed her to know.

"And I know I'm not…" He sucked in another shaky breath. "…I'm not Pete but I… I wish I were. I love you. I love all of you. I wish it'd been real. I wish so much it'd been real. You've no idea how much…how much I wish that. And I… I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

The next breath really hurt, and he gasped slightly, holding his side against the pain.

"Where are you, honey?" Audrey asked softly.

Marius grimaced at the kindness in her voice.

"I have to go now," he said.

"No, Pete, Marius…where are you? You're hurt, I can hear it in your voice. You need to get help now, okay, son? You call an ambulance. You get help."

"No need," he said, looking out across the sun-dappled pond. "I'm not worth the trouble."

"Marius, no. Don't—"

He hung up. And then he dropped the phone onto the ground.

It rang again almost immediately, so he kicked it away.

"So you're not Pete, eh?" a low voice asked from behind him.

Marius tensed up immediately. He'd have turned in his seat, but the pain was so terrible now, he didn't dare try it.

Dockery seemed to understand, because he came around the tree to face him. The gun in his hand was pointed at his head.

"I don't get you," Dockery said then, his expression genuinely curious. "Why con the Bernhardts like that? It's not like they have money."

Marius swallowed, then smiled slightly.

"They…helped me. I needed a place to hide for a time and they…they unwittingly supplied it."

Dockery just grunted, then his eyes tipped downwards to the blood slowly dripping down off the log. When they tipped up again, he was smiling thinly.

"So that was the confession of the dying man, eh? Had to get the lie off your conscience or something?"

"Or something," Marius said.

"Well, that's fine with me," Dockery said, "because it likely means you won't have need for the money you've got stashed in your car either."

Marius frowned slightly. "Money?"

"Yeah. The money I'm guessing you took from the cabin after I left? You're a fast talker, probably talked my dad into letting you stay behind for some reason so you could find it. That's why your family left before you did. You stayed behind a good long time before I saw you drive by. So where was the money hidden?"

Marius shook his head. "I don't have it."

"Liar."

"Why would I lie? You're right, I'm dying. What possible use could I have for it?"

"I don't know. Maybe you think, when your family comes to find you…tracking your phone or something…that they'll get it."

"They're not…" Marius swallowed. "My family."

"Like hell. You may not be Pete, but I heard what you said. They're your family now. And if you don't give me the money right now, I promise you, they're all dead."

Marius frowned. With his last reserves of strength, he stood to face Dockery. Chayton was a good foot taller, which meant that his arm and the gun was almost level now with Marius' head and only inches away.

"You do not touch them," Marius ground out as he stared down the barrel. "Not one hair."

Dockery smiled. "Give me the money, and I won't."

"I do _not_ have it," Marius repeated. "Your father does. Call him and ask."

"I can't," Dockery said. "And you know why I can't. I saw those black SUVs; they're the only reason I didn't follow you down here sooner. You didn't lie about the Feds. My dad's likely making his way home through the woods right now on foot. I call him, I might give his position away. And if they've tapped his phone, my asking about money won't do me any favors either."

"Then text. Instagram. Snapchat. I don't care. Ask him. He'll tell you. I don't have it."

"Prove it."

"How?"

"Open up your car. I tried the doors while you were chatting with Audrey, but it's locked."

Marius snorted, but he reached into his pocket and clicked the key fob. The car dinged.

Dockery glanced over his shoulder, and, purely by instinct, Marius' hands shot up and, with a quick twist, he pulled the gun from Dockery's hand and had it pointed back at him. Dockery's own hands shot up and he backed off a few steps, clearly surprised. To be honest, Marius was pretty surprised himself. Adrenalin was a powerful thing.

"I thought you didn't have the money?" Dockery said.

"I do have money in there," Marius said. "But it's not yours. And it _is_ going to go to the Bernhardts when they find me and the car out here. Your money is with your dad. You want it so badly, you go get it." And with that, he locked the car again. Then he dropped the keyfob on the ground…and shot it. Surprisingly, the recoil from the gun didn't hurt as much as he'd expected. _I guess this is me going numb,_ he thought dumbly.

Dockery frowned.

"That was a stupid move," the large man said.

Marius shrugged, but didn't lower the gun even though his arm was shaking like a leaf in a storm.

"Go now," he said to Dockery. "I'm giving you your life…again. Wherever you parked your stupid truck, go back to it, get in, and drive away. The Feds might already be checking all these side roads, and this one to Reed Pond isn't all that far from the cabin. This is your last chance."

Dockery continued to frown, studying Marius like he was an oddity that he just couldn't fathom.

Then, with a strange sort of slowness, he reached behind his back and pulled out another gun. He pointed it at Marius, a knowing look in his face.

Marius just sighed. _Of course, he had two guns. What self-respecting criminal only has one?_

Almost as slowly as Dockery had moved, he lowered the gun in his hand, before letting it fall into the dead leaves by his feet.

Dockery had figured out something pretty big—Marius didn't have it in him to kill anyone.

"Thought so," Dockery said. "Even dying, you're no killer. You're just a coward."

"Yeah," Marius said weakly, his shoulder slumping. He pressed his hand to his side again. "You got me."

"What I don't understand," Dockery said, "is why you care so much about the Bernhardts getting whatever is in your car. I honestly probably would have just left you here to die slowly, as you seemed to have planned, if you'd just let me take whatever is in that car. Now, because you've pissed me off, I'm going to shoot you in the stomach, so that you will be in even more pain before you die _and_ I'm still getting what's in the car. I mean, shooting the keyfob? It just means I have to smash a window. Why fight so hard?"

Marius' head drooped, and his gaze traveled to the small pond behind Dockery. The sun still glinted prettily off the ripples from the wind, the fish still swam, the waters were still clear.

"Because I don't matter," he said finally.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I'm nothing. I'm just like one of the rocks in that pond. Take me out and…nothing will change." He smiled weakly. "It might even be a little prettier without me in it." He lowered his gaze to the old, dead leaves at his feet. "All I have is what is in this car, and I wanted it to go to them. I thought that, maybe, if they got the money in there that…that it would mean something I did – that my life - wouldn't be completely worthless."

Dockery frowned again.

Then he inclined his head.

"Okay," he said. "That I understand." He shrugged. "And I wish I could oblige, but I need that money to help me get away, so, sorry. I'm taking it anyway."

Marius closed his eyes.

"But I'll shoot you in the head," Dockery said then. "So that you die quick. I can do that for you."

Marius snorted a laugh. Small favors, he supposed. But it really was probably about all he deserved.

He opened his eyes and looked up at Dockery.

The gunshot was loud, louder even than when he'd shot the keyfob, so it seemed. And for a long moment, he just waited, expecting to feel the bullet hit his head, to see the world flash before his eyes, and to know the final rest of death.

Except the one who collapsed was Dockery, his features fixed in a rictus of surprise.

Marius blinked rapidly, confused, until he saw Taylor step cautiously by him, gun raised and pointed at Dockery's now unmoving form.

Someone's hand touched his arm, gentle and firm. Julia was looking at him worriedly. She pulled back his jacket and swore softly at the blood.

Otto then stood before him, saying something about…something. He didn't quite catch it.

"What?" he said.

"Is he alone?" Otto said, the words clearer now.

"Oh. Yes." He frowned. "Where did you come from?"

"Audrey. She heard everything – you must have left your phone on. She called us from the office phone and told us you were near Reed Pond. We had turned around and were practically already here, so…we drove as far as Dockery's truck back there on the road, then came the rest of the way on foot. Looks like we got here just in time, too." He turned and looked at Dockery.

Taylor had kicked away Dockery's gun and was now just staring down at him.

"No, I hung up the phone," Marius said. "And I kicked it away."

Julia followed his gaze, and then moved to go pick up the phone. It showed a connected call.

When he kicked it, it must have answered Audrey when she called back.

Huh.

Julia said something to Audrey over the line, then hung up.

"Is Chayton dead?" Otto asked Taylor.

"Not yet."

"Can you save him?"

Taylor looked at Otto grimly. And then shook his head.

"Well, try," Otto said. "Get him into Pete's car. We'll get both these idiots to the hospital. I'll call Kwahu and let him know."

"I shot the keyfob," Marius said.

"What?" Otto said. "Why?"

"I was trying to make a point. Didn't really work."

"Pete," Julia said, back by his side again. "Can you walk?"

He looked at her, and smiled. She really looked pretty in this light.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he said happily.

She just nodded, and slid her arm under his.

"Try walking," she said.

So he did.

The last thing he heard was Julia cry out for help before he hit the ground and everything went black.

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TBC

Just one more chapter to go…


	4. Chapter 4

Julia's Dilemma  
By Tipper

CHAPTER FOUR: A LITTLE HONESTY

Julia sighed, glancing over at Marius for, perhaps, the third time in the last hour. The doctors had said that they believed he'd wake soon, really wake and maybe even speak, which was wonderful news after so long, but it was nonetheless tedious waiting for it to happen. The hospital also wasn't very conducive to comfort. The plastic chair she sat in wobbled every time she moved, and there wasn't much room to move around. The bed took up most of the tiny room and, other than the small potted plants on the window that Caryl had brought in, it was really dull. A white board with medication info hung on one wall next to a small flat screen TV that couldn't actually get any channels other than the Christian network ( _why?)_ , the machines monitoring Marius' condition and the IVs took up much of the space by his head, and the bleach smell from cramped, salmon colored bathroom never seemed to fade from the air, no matter how long she sat here.

She'd heard that people hated hospitals. She understood why, now. Even Otto hadn't been in the hospital this long, and she'd been too grateful to them for saving his life to really notice the environment. But after three weeks of watching over a fitful, barely sensible Marius who hadn't opened his eyes for more than a minute or two at a time, it was getting tiring.

She put down the book she'd been reading and sighed again. She'd never read so many books in such a short amount of time – this was her fourth Spencer for Hire novel (for some reason, the library next to the hospital had a lot of them), and he was beginning to get a little repetitive.

Standing, she turned and looked out the window. It was officially summer outside. The flowering trees were all just solid green now, and the flowers had moved on from tulips and daffodils to peonies, petunias and impatiens. It was the first year she wasn't spending time with Ellen planting flowers in front of the house. She felt a little guilty about that. Maybe they'd do that this weekend.

"Julia?" a voice croaked.

Her eyebrows shot upwards, and she turned to look at Marius. He was blinking muzzily up at her, his brow furrowed.

She couldn't help the grin, so pleased to see him actually recognize her.

"Hi!" she said stupidly. "Oh, it's so good to hear you say my name!" She stumbled forward, nearly tripping on the chair, and then grabbed his hand. "How are you doing?"

He just continued to look at her with some confusion, then his eyes moved and she could tell he was taking in his location. His lips lowered into a frown.

"Yeah, you're at the hospital," she told him. "Been here a while, actually. You've been awake before, but never, I don't think, with any real awareness. How are you feeling?"

He blinked a few times, then looked at her again.

"Tired," he said finally.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "Doctors said you might say that. Carly thought that was funny, considering how much you've been sleeping. I think she thought you might just bounce right back up when you woke up." She shrugged. "But your body's been through a lot. A real lot." Her smile felt a little strained at that, remembering how hard those first twenty-four hours had been.

"My throat hurts," he said then.

"Oh," she said, suddenly remembering she was supposed to offer him water. "There's water! Hang on." She reached over to the tiny tray next to the bed, on which sat a couple of plastic cups and a jug of now tepid water. She quickly poured a little into a cup then turned and handed it to him.

He frowned slightly, then looked down at his arm. It shook as he lifted it, something that was clearly puzzling to him.

"You're just weak," she told him. "You'll be fine once you can eat real food and get your strength back. Here." She took his hand and pressed the cup into it, letting him close his fingers around it. Then she helped him guide it to his mouth.

He took a sip, then another, and then drew the cup away. She took it from his fingers and put it back on the tray.

When she looked back, he was staring at her again, this time with more intensity. He was reading her.

"Carly was here?" he said slowly.

"Yeah. Whole family, actually, off and on. Audrey was here this morning. I'm here for the noon shift."

He frowned again. "Why?"

She shrugged, smiling a bit weakly. "Because you were hurt, of course."

"But…" His frown deepened. "But I'm not Pete. If this is a hospital, they would have needed my real name."

She pressed her lips together, a blush running up her cheeks. His eyebrows lifted.

"Julia?"

"So, I may have told the family that, as soon as you were old enough, you legally had your name changed to Marius Josipovic, and that you were just too embarrassed to tell them that you'd done that. Your friend who visited and left with Maggie, he took on the name as a favor for you, to explain why you seemed to have two names." She shrugged. "They seemed to have bought it."

His frown deepened then. "But Audrey knows."

Julia was the one to frown this time. What was he talking about? "No, she doesn't."

"She does, because I told her."

She shook her head. "That's not possible. If she knew, she would have said something. She hasn't said a thing."

Marius just continued to frown, so Julia smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You must have imagined it, Marius. You've been really out of it these last few weeks, and, from what the doctors told us, it's not all that surprising for someone who has experienced a trauma to forget parts of what happened."

"No, I…I told her."

Julia just shook her head. "You couldn't have. She's been here as much as I have, and she's never called you anything but Pete."

Marius looked down, then his eyes widened slightly and he looked up. "Weeks? You said weeks? How long have I been here?"

"A little over three weeks," she said.

"Oh hell, my parole officer…." He made as if to get up, then winced slightly at whatever pain that caused.

"I took care of that," Julia said, holding a hand to his shoulder to keep him down.

"How?"

"Told him the truth," she said. "Mostly. You, me and Taylor were having a picnic near Reed Pond when Chayton Dockery, who was on the run from the feds, barged in on us, looking for money so he could run. He shot you, and Taylor shot him. Pretty straightforward." She knew she was smiling slightly, pleased at how well that lie had run with both Bagwell and the federal agents when they'd questioned them.

Marius just looked at her, clearly nonplussed.

"Bagwell's not a bad guy, once you get to know him," she said. "He's been to visit a couple of times too. I don't think he knows quite what to make of you, you know."

He tilted his head, and she could see the curiosity in his own gaze.

"Right now," he said slowly, "I'm not sure what to make of you, Julia."

She shrugged. "What are you talking about?"

"Why didn't you just tell them truth? Any one thing could have brought the lie down of who I am. I know from experience – holding a con for this long never works."

"Maybe I'm just better at it than you are," she said.

He gave her a wry look.

She shrugged and stood up.

"Fine," she said, returning to the window to look out at the summer sky. "I didn't tell them because…." She sighed. "Because I didn't want to tell them. I like having you around, I like having you be part of the family." She shook her head. "If they knew, you'd have to leave and…I don't want you to leave."

She touched the window, felt the warmth of the sun even against the cool glass.

After a long moment, she turned to look at him. He hadn't said anything to what she'd said, and it was a little unnerving.

He was watching her, his eyes a little wet.

Then he shook his head.

"I can't stay," he said finally, his voice back to a croak. "I can't keep being Pete."

Julia stared at him.

Then she frowned, and couldn't help but feel a little angry. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not Pete."

"But why can't you be?" she demanded again. "I'll help. I already have! You can stay and—"

"I'm sorry, Julia. I can't. I shouldn't have tried to come back after Maggie left. It was stupid. And…" He looked down. "Truth is, I just can't do this anymore." He grimaced. "I'm sorry."

She stared at him, as angry with him as she'd ever been. After all this, it felt like a betrayal as terrible as when she'd found out that he wasn't Pete in the first place. Reaching down, she grabbed her purse off the chair and drew it to her chest.

"You're such an asshole," she snarled. "Fine. You want to leave? Then leave. Get out of our lives. Maybe you're right. It'll be better this way."

And without waiting for his reply, she walked out of the room, cursing slightly the fact that the door swung and closed slowly so she couldn't slam it.

By the time she had reached the car in the parking lot, she was crying so hard, she found she couldn't see well enough to start driving for almost ten minutes.

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Marius sighed, looking out the plate glass window to the world outside. It was almost mockingly sunny outside. Rain would have been more appropriate.

Frowning, he found the bed controls and managed to sit up, feeling only a little bit of stiffness in his side as it moved. Once upright, he pushed back the covers and opened the gown he was wearing to look at what was there.

The bandages looked clean and fairly straightforward. He wondered if the stiches had come out yet. He thought about lifting the bandages up and away, but then decided not to bother.

With shaking limbs, he grabbed the cup and drank more of the water. Then, with deliberate care, he slid off the bed and onto his legs.

A sharp sting of pain ran up and down his hurt side, but it soon faded, and he found he could stand. Nodding, he tried a couple of steps. Looked like he could walk as well.

Carefully, he made his way around the bed to the small locker cubby next to the bathroom door and opened it. His blue jacket and pants were inside, along with a clean shirt, underwear, socks and shoes. Throwing the gown off, he put on the underwear, shirt and the pants, all the while being careful not to pull the wound or move too quickly.

He was breathing pretty heavily when he was done, and he had to sit down on the bed for a minute.

Once he thought he had his equilibrium back, he stood and pulled out the jacket.

With a wry smile, he turned it over in his hands. Someone had worked very hard to get the blood out of it, there wasn't even a stain. That same someone had probably also sewed the bullet hole; it was very neatly done, barely visible.

He sat down again, fingering the careful stitching, and trying to decide what to do next.

"What are you doing?" Audrey's voice asked from the doorway. He blinked, he hadn't even noticed her come in. Glancing behind him at the window, he was surprised to see that the sun had moved. He'd obviously been sitting here for a little while.

"Julia arrived at the office, practically in tears," Audrey added for good measure. "She wouldn't tell me why, but I knew she'd been here, so I'm presuming it has something to do with you."

Marius just looked up at her, then, carefully, he stood up from the bed.

"She's just mad," he said, proud of himself for not needing to lean against the bed to stand on his own two feet. "Because I said that I was leaving."

"You're not well enough to leave," Audrey said. "The doctors said, even if you were to wake up like you have, that they'd still want you to be here for a few more days. They only just took the stitches out the other day and you've not eaten anything except out of a tube. You need to heal still."

"I'm fine," Marius said, smiling weakly. "I think I've been here long enough."

"That's a matter of opinion," Audrey said. "Personally, after what you've put this family through, I think you owe us a little more than to disappear before you've told them what you told me on the phone." She lifted an eyebrow.

Marius feigned another smile, pretending not to know what she was talking about. "What?"

"Really?" Audrey said. "That's how you're going to play this?"

"I'm not sure I understand—?"

"Cut the shit, Marius."

Marius's smile stretched even thinner. A sharp pain cut through his side, and, with a small wince, he sat back down on the bed. That seemed to be the cue for Audrey to move closer, so that she practically loomed over him, her arms crossed.

 _My god,_ he thought _, that look is pure steel._

It was one of things he found most impressive about her.

"What do you want from me?" he asked finally.

"I didn't tell the family what you told me," she said, "first because they were so scared for you when you almost died that I couldn't add the confusion of your lying to that mix, and, second, because I think you should do that yourself. I'm guessing Julia already knows, correct? Because she's been covering for you. But you know you can't keep lying, and it's time you told us the whole truth. Or, at least…" She gave a tiny, knowing smile. "…as much as you can, but enough to explain why you impersonated my grandson, why my daughter perpetuated that lie, and what you intend to do now."

He grimaced. "I don't intend to do anything now, except leave."

Her gaze narrowed. "Why?"

"Because I can't stay."

"Why again?"

His brow furrowed. It felt like a repeat of what he'd just told Julia. "Because…I'm not Pete."

"I'm fully aware of that. And, when we bring you home and you tell the others, they will know too. So, once that's done, why do you have to leave?"

He blinked.

Huh?

"I don't understand," he said.

Audrey pursed her lips, and loosened her arms. Then she shrugged.

"I'm just wondering why you want to leave?" she said. "From what you said on that call, I thought you wanted to stay."

His lips parted. He really was confused now.

Audrey arched her eyebrows, waiting for him to say something, but he didn't know what to say.

She sighed then, and, curiously, sat down on the bed next to him. She looked around the hospital room for a moment, then at him.

"Do you want to stay, Marius?" she asked softly. "Tell me the truth."

He felt the wetness in his eyes again, so he sniffed, trying to draw it back in.

"I can't," he replied, his voice shaking a little.

"But do you want to?" she pressed again.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked her. "What do you want from me?"

"A little honesty. I suspect it's not something you're very good at, even with yourself. But try." She looked him in the eyes. "Do you want to stay with us?"

"I'm no good, Audrey," he said, his voice a whisper now. "I'm trouble. I'll bring it down on you. You can't want me to stay, not after everything I've done."

"You got the money back from Lance," Audrey said. "You didn't cause that trouble, I did, and you helped us solve it. As for Maggie, I suspect you're the reason she came back, even if that was hard for me, and…I owe you for that as well. And as for this affair with Dockery…" She shook her head. "I can't blame you for that either, and, in the end, you were willing to die for us. I can't ignore any of that, son. And, frankly, it might be useful to have you around." She gave a small smile at that.

He just stared at her.

She grabbed his hand then, and his heart beat faster.

"Just answer the question, Marius. Do you want to stay?"

He sniffed again, but it didn't work this time. A tear escaped, running down his cheek, feeling like a slice of coolness against his burning skin. His heart continued to beat too quickly, and his head and the wound in his side had started to beat in time. A strange sort of lethargy came down on him then, and he felt his eyes begin to droop.

"Marius?" her voice seemed oddly far away, though she was still holding his hand.

"I'm not feeling very well," he admitted, his voice shaking again.

Her other hand shot up and pressed itself against his forehead. He heard her swear.

"Lie down, sweetheart. I'm going to fetch someone."

Lying back down was something he could do. As soon as she was gone, he curled back up on the bed, feeling a little better now that he wasn't sitting upright. He thought he probably should have moved the bed back to its former position, but it just seemed too much of a bother.

He'd fix it in a minute.

Just need to close his eyes for a second. Just a second.

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When he woke up again, he was back in the gown and he was lying prone once more on the bed. His eyes felt sticky, and it took a few goes for him to open them completely.

Taylor sat in the chair this time, his feet up on the end of the bed, his head drooped against his chest and his eyes closed. He was snoring slightly.

Marius snorted.

But it was nice to see him there.

With a small smile, he closed his eyes again and was soon asleep.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was alone in the room, sun once more pouring in the window. It had a low, rose color quality to it, suggesting early morning or late afternoon. Turning, he spotted a clock by the bed. 7:00 am. Morning it was.

He felt better, curiously, much more alert than he had before. Looking down, he found he was no longer in a gown, but wearing pajamas bottoms and T-shirt. His eyebrows lifted. Pulling up the shirt, he noticed that the bandage was much smaller now.

With less effort than last time, he got the bed to help him sit upright, then he swung his legs off and onto the floor. Taking a deep breath, he carefully stood. He was immediately pleased, because his legs only shook for a moment before he had his bearings. Definitely better.

As with last time, he made his way to the cubby and opened it. All the same – jacket, shirt, pants…everything was still there. He grabbed the shirt and then hesitated.

He had a choice right now. He hadn't answered Audrey, but she'd offered him a choice, a real one. He just had to decide what to do.

He'd been a con for so long, could he even be anything else? Did he want to be anything else?

He thought of Katie. She'd done it. Except that he'd brought her back in, not entirely unwillingly. And he'd even threatened her to get her help, initially. He knew people worse than him who might not have backed off so quickly.

Then he thought about all the people he'd crossed over the years. People like Vince held grudges.

His fingers curled into the shirt.

In the end, he decided he didn't really have a choice.

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Julia yawned as she walked down the hall to Marius' room. She was a little late this morning, having gotten into a fight with the obnoxious woman at the pre-school who was telling her that Ellen had been rude to some other little girl in her class. Julia had known all about it – said little girl had been bullying Ellen for a while, and, frankly, Julia was proud that her daughter had finally stood up to her. Of course, the teacher, who clearly favored the better dressed little girl with the pigtails over Julia's daughter, had chosen solely to blame Ellen, so…Julia had gotten into a fight. She wondered if all parents fought with their kid's teachers, or was it just her?

She slowed when she saw Audrey and Otto standing outside Marius' room, her grandparents listening to whatever the doctor was telling them. Then she quickened her pace, almost running by the time she reached them.

"What's going on?" she demanded. "What's happening? Is Pete okay?"

"No," Audrey answered, her gaze dark as she met Julia's eyes. "He's not."

"He apparently left this morning," Otto said, his brow furrowed, wringing his hands as he looked to what had been Marius' room. "He just left. Didn't tell anyone." He shook his head. "Why would he just leave like that?"

Julia closed her eyes, anger, frustration and loss filling her chest.

"He left because he didn't need us anymore," Audrey said finally, her tone as even and as cold as Julia had ever heard it. She shook her head. "I should have seen it coming."

"Well," the doctor standing next to them said, "I don't know about that, but he did leave a note." She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Audrey, but Otto grabbed it first. He opened it, read it quickly with a furrowed brow, then frowned deeply.

"Idiot boy," he said angrily, handing it to Audrey.

Her grandmother read it more slowly, then sighed. Some of the darkness left her gaze as she finished. Then she handed it to Julia.

It was only four sentences.

 _I'm sorry. You're far better off without someone like me in your lives. I care about you too much to do that to you._

 _I will miss you more than you can know._

 _Marius_

Julia stared at it for a long time, then gently folded it up and handed it back Audrey.

"I'll give you all a minute," the doctor said then, inclining her head in farewell before walking away.

Julia watched her leave, then sighed. She was tired of being angry at Marius. Tired of hurting because of him as well. He was gone, so there was nothing now left to lose.

"I should have said something," she said then. "But he wasn't really Pete."

"I know," Audrey said.

Otto just snorted. "No shit."

That caused them both to look at him in surprise, but Otto just shrugged.

"I've known since Maggie came home," he said. "The way she looked at him, I knew."

"Huh," Julia said.

"Pretty sure Taylor knows too," Otto added then. "Found a folder in his car on Marius not long after we brought him to the hospital, told his whole life story. Guess he didn't want to admit he knew too."

"And Carly?" Julia said.

"Be surprised if she hadn't also figured it out," Otto said. "Whip smart, that girl."

Audrey just nodded.

"So, what now?" Julia asked.

"I guess we go to work," Audrey said. "Got a long day ahead of us. Chester Dawes has the first day of his trial today, we should make sure he gets there."

Otto just snorted, crossing his arms.

"You head in," Julia said. "I'll make sure there's nothing left in his room."

Audrey and Otto both just nodded, and, with a slow step, they headed away towards the elevators.

Julia walked into the room. It had already been cleaned up some, she noticed. The machines were gone and the bed made. The only thing left were the plants on the window. With a sigh, she went to collect them, then noticed that there were only three. There had been four.

She smiled slightly.

When she turned, she found herself facing the white board, the one that normally had had his medications on it. It was empty except for one thing.

A phone number.

She stared at it for a while, then pulled out her phone and dialed it.

"Hi Julia," Marius' voice answered.

"You little shit," she said in greeting.

"I know. I just wanted you to be able to reach me, in case…in case you ever needed anything. Advice or…or something."

She felt the tears in her eyes.

"I hate you, you know," she said.

"Yeah. I figured."

She grimaced.

"Please come home," she said then.

He said nothing to that.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Can I call you, even if I don't need anything?" she asked then.

He snorted. "Yeah. Actually, I'd like that."

She nodded, opening her eyes again. "Okay then. I will."

He was quiet for a moment, then, "Julia?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I call you later?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." She could almost hear him smile. "Then I'll call you later."

She nodded. "Goodbye, Marius."

"Goodbye, Julia."

She drew the phone away from her ear, and hung up the call.

"I love you," she said.

And in her mind, she heard him say it back.

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END – Hope you liked it!


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